Chemmani mass graves investigation

In 1998, allegations of mass graves at Chemmani were made by a Sri Lankan soldier on trial for rape and murder. He claimed hundreds of people who disappeared from the Jaffna peninsula after it was retaken by Government troops from the LTTE in 1995 and 1996 were killed and buried in mass graves near the village of Chemmani. There are reports about 300 to 400 bodies being buried there.^[1]

Internationally observed excavations in 1999 found 15 bodies, two of which were identified as men who had disappeared in 1996.^[2] The findings led to charges against seven military personnel. The number of bodies exhumed is far less than the number originally alleged, and the Sri Lankan government stated that the local and foreign investigators found no graves as originally alleged and that there was no evidence of grave tampering either.^[3] Seven years later, the investigation remained open, but no further bodies have been found at Chemanni.^[4]